“And he never asked you questions about me?”

“He asked if you were my brother and I said yes. You are. It’s common knowledge. It shouldn’t have gotten him killed.”

“Rachael, let’s start with something we know. Tell me you know I love you. You must know ever ything I’ve done in my life I’ve done for you. For us. To keep us alive. I was a child too. I had no power. No one to help us. I had no choice if we were to stay alive. I had to join with Armando or he would have killed us both on the spot. I traded my soul for a chance for both of us to live.”

She flung herself into his arms. “I know you did. I know you did it for me. I knew you could have gotten away if you didn’t have me to try to protect.”

“Does it really make sense to you that I spent all those years protecting you and now I’d suddenly want you dead?” He wrapped his arms around her, hugged her hard.

“It was so awful. I felt responsible and I didn’t know why you would do such a terrible thing. Power corrupts, Elijah. I’ve seen you fight it. You tried to make the business legitimate, but at the same time, you had to do the things that allowed Armando to think you were a part of the business.”

“I had no choice but to run the business the way Ar mando wanted. We inherited half of everything, Rachael. Armando wanted it all, and he wanted it to remain his. When he found out Dad wanted to get out from under it, he had them followed. He discovered Mom could shift into the form of a leopard. He found his perfect assassins. Stealthy. Cunning. Intelligent.”

“So Dad took us all to Florida.”

“That was because Mom was afraid her people would harm Dad. So he moved us to the Glades. Mom could still run, and he was out from under the business. But of course it didn’t work that way. He owned too much and knew too much. He was slowly trying to get out from under the companies.

Armando wasn’t going to let that happen. All the while I was out with my wonderful uncle, doing his little tasks for him because he let me run free. I was so stupid. I told Mom and Dad that Armando knew about me shifting, that I did it all the time in front of him. Mom had been so secretive and I wanted her to know it was okay, that he didn’t mind. They were both so upset, and they must have talked to him.

Armando arranged to meet with Mom and Dad and he killed both of them.”

“And I saw it.” Rachael pulled away from him. “I’ll never forget his face when he turned and saw me standing there.”

“Do you think I liked doing the things I had to do? He held you hostage, Rachael. He never bothered to hide what he did from you. The more you knew, the more of a liability you were to him and the more I had to do to make it worth his while to keep you alive. He needed me. I was like Mom and a tremendous asset to him. And he knew that he couldn’t kill both of us and get away with it. As soon as possible, I made certain he knew there was proof, if something happened to either of us.”

“But Elijah, I saw you do things just like he did them. You’re not the same. You’ve grown distant and colder. I tried to talk to you about it and you brushed it off.”

“He was making another move against us. And I was planning to kill him. I didn’t want you involved.”

He said it bluntly. “If you knew, you’d be as guilty as me. You couldn’t know the things I had to do.

One of us had to be something Mom would be proud of.” He looked down at his hands. “If it makes you feel any better, I never killed an innocent. I never stooped that low.”

“You ran drugs, you smuggled weapons. You trained assassins.” She flung the accusations at him, stepping away, pain breathing in her lungs.

He took a step toward her, wanting to shake her. “Damn it, Rachael. If you don’t want to believe me about Tony, don’t, but don’t look at me as if I’ m some monster you don’t know. Armando isn’t going to let you live. He can’t. You’re a knife poised over his head. You’re an eyewitness to murder. I have no intention of leaving here without you. Armando’s men are swarming up and down the river. He imported a couple of the best trackers. Men like Duncan. You can’t stay here, Rachael. Come home with me where I can keep you safe.”

There was no sound other than the wind and rain. The door was partially open and the wind blew in, stirring the mosquito net, setting it dancing. Rachael felt the wind on her face. Elijah felt the blade cut into his throat. Hot breath fanned his cheek. A soft growl rumbled dangerously close to his ear. “She isn’t going anywher e with you.”

Eighteen

Rio pressed the blade deeper into Elijah’s throat. “She isn’t going anywherewith you.” His voice was gravelly, a growl of sheer menace. “Not now. Not ever.”

“Rio, no, you can’t hurt him,” Rachael protested. “This is Elijah, my brother.”

Elijah didn’t move a muscle. He stayed perfectly still, feeling the burning sting of the blade across his throat. Instead of loosening his grip at Rachael’s command, Rio tightened his arm until it was a steel band, a vise squeezing ever tighter.

“Stay where you are, Rachael. This gentleman and I are going outside together. If you want to live, Elijah, take very small steps in exact sync with mine. One wrong move and you’re a dead man.”

“Rio, what are you doing?” Rachael took a step toward them.

The knife drew blood. Elijah held up his hand to his sister, halting her progress instantly. She watched with enormous eyes as the two men moved together out the door, back onto the verandah. Rachael followed at a safe distance, her heart pounding.